JAMES BAY TO RIVER ABBITIBBE 159 



and some with tomahawks, while one had a harpoon and 

 another a pike. While the dogs attracted the bear by 

 snapping at his heels, the men alternately attacked him 

 on all sides. So intent on their work were they, and 

 withal so noisy, that I did not attract their attention for 

 fully a quarter of an hour ; and could not shoot for fear 

 of hitting the men, while they had not a gun among 

 them. Two of the dogs were slain when I came up, and 

 two or three more disabled ; and while I was watching 

 bruin killed another, and making a sudden dash threw 

 down one of the men. He was beaten off, however, 

 before much hurt was done, and being now streaming 

 with blood, was soon after finished off, having killed three 

 dogs, wounded half-a-dozen, and more or less clawed 

 several of the men. His hide was so cut and chopped 

 that I should think it could have been of but little value ; 

 but the grease is always the chief object with Indians 

 when they attack a bear. 



When I could grain attention I asked how it was that 

 the hunters were without guns ; every Indian owning 

 a gun nowadays. " Plenty gun : no powder," was the 

 reply. This is not an uncommon case, the Indians are 

 as improvident with their ammunition as with every- 

 thing else. An Indian often carries his powder loose in 

 a pouch, and his method of loading is to take a handful 

 and pour it down the barrel, wasting a portion, and using 

 twice as much as is necessary for a charge. So it hap- 

 pens that the hunters are often without powder, and in 

 such cases devote their entire attention to trapping. If 

 they come across any large animal they will attack and 

 destroy it in the manner just described ; but they never 

 thus tackle bears unless there are at least a dozen men in 

 their party. Deer they easily track down in the snow 

 and despatch with a knife ; and I have heard of their 

 actually running deer down, when the ground is clear 

 and the latter can run at full speed. The hunter pro- 

 bably tires the deer by incessant pursuit; for these 



